Doug Jones

Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape of Water" is an aquatic "Beauty and the Beast," a transgressive fairy tale about a young woman's love for a scaly creature from the Amazonian depths.

Like the best fables, it's also rooted in the real world: the story of a migrant from the south facing a hostile reception in a security-obsessed United States.

"I think that fantasy is a very political genre," del Toro said Thursday at the Venice Film Festival, where "The Shape of Water" had its red-carpet world premiere. It's one of 21 films competing for the coveted Golden Lion, the festival's top prize.

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Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape of Water" is an aquatic "Beauty and the Beast," a transgressive fairy tale about a young woman's love for a scaly creature from the Amazonian depths. Like the best fables, it's also rooted in the real world: the story of...